I have purposely not been paying attention to the healthcare reform shenanigans. Yes, I know it is wrong of me and I know it is irresponsible. I also know that I can’t do a single thing to affect the outcome, and that my life is 100% better without all the turmoil of listening to uninformed douche bags yell at each other.
Healthcare is something that we are all going to pay for1 as a society, whether or not its written in bill form. For every single person who gets crappy care in a hospital but can’t pay for it, it is up to tax write-offs and government funding2 to foot the bills. Worse yet, millions of people3 who have healthcare file bankruptcy every year because disaster strikes and insurance doesn’t cover it. So, it clearly makes sense to have some form of a national health plan.
Hopefully the powers that be get it right the first time around.
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This snapshot was taken at the U.C. Berkeley Art Museum, when I was there for a lecture on China. The absolutely fascinating exhibit was part of a larger body of work surrounding modern Chinese artists. It was astounding to see what a nation of people would create after having been denied the seemingly fundamental human rights of artistic expression for so long.
Clearly, we have all have our own paint to spill.
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1 — From EverydayHealth.com’s article Who Pays For Healthcare?: “Even having insurance through your employer means by no stretch of the imagination, that you are still paying for it through reduced wages.”
2 — According to 60 Minutes: “Hospitals get certain accounting and public-relations benefits even when they don’t collect from the uninsured. For-profit hospitals get a tax write-off on uncollected debts. Non-profit hospitals (85 percent of U.S. hospitals are non-profit) cite their uncollected debts in fund-raising efforts and to the government in arguing for higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement payments.”
3 —According to the National Coalition on Health Care: “A recent study found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses. Of those who filed for bankruptcy, nearly 80 percent had health insurance.”